How to Do It
- Set your hands slightly wider than shoulder width, directly under your shoulders, fingers pointing forward.
- Keep your body in a straight line from head to heels, bracing your core and squeezing your glutes.
- Lower your chest toward the floor by bending your elbows at roughly a 45-degree angle from your torso.
- Touch your chest close to the floor, then press back up to full arm extension without locking out aggressively.
- Keep your hips level throughout, not sagging down or piking up.
Common Mistakes
- Letting the hips sag toward the floor, which turns the movement into a lower back exercise instead of a chest exercise.
- Only doing partial reps, stopping the descent well above the floor and losing most of the range of motion.
- Flaring the elbows straight out to the sides, which stresses the shoulder joint the same way it does in the bench press.
- Rushing through reps instead of controlling the tempo, which reduces the muscle-building stimulus.
The push-up is the most accessible chest and pressing exercise there is, needing zero equipment while still building real strength and size when programmed with enough volume or added resistance.[1][2]
If a full push-up is too hard, elevate your hands on a bench or step rather than dropping to your knees, this keeps the core bracing demand closer to a real push-up. As standard reps get easy, progress by elevating your feet instead, or adding a weighted backpack.
For a complete bodyweight upper body session, pair push-ups with pull-ups to balance pushing and pulling, as covered in our full bodyweight workout plan at home.
Muscles Worked by the Push-Up
The push-up trains the chest and triceps as prime movers, with the front delts assisting throughout the press and the core working hard to keep the body rigid from head to heels.
- Primary: pectoralis major (chest), triceps
- Secondary: anterior deltoids (front shoulders)
- Stabilizers: core and glutes, which keep the hips from sagging or piking, plus the shoulder blade stabilizers that keep the shoulders steady under bodyweight load[1][2]
Because you’re moving your entire bodyweight rather than an external load, the push-up also builds a level of core and shoulder stability that a machine chest press doesn’t train the same way.
Push-Up vs Bench Press
Both exercises train the same horizontal pressing pattern and the same primary muscles, but the push-up uses bodyweight against the floor while the bench press uses a bar or dumbbells against gravity.
The bench press allows progressive overload with precise, small weight increments, making it the better tool for building maximum chest strength over time. The push-up caps out at your own bodyweight (plus whatever you can add with a vest or plate), but demands more core and shoulder stability since nothing is fixing your body in place.
| Push-Up | Bench Press | |
|---|---|---|
| Resistance | Bodyweight | Barbell or dumbbells |
| Core demand | High | Low, body is supported |
| Load progression | Harder, needs added resistance | Easy, small plate increments |
| Best for | No-equipment training, core stability | Maximum chest strength |
Most well-rounded push programs use both: the bench press to build raw strength with precise loading, and push-up variations for equipment-free volume and the extra core-stability demand a bench removes.[1][2]
Push-Up Alternatives
- Bench press: the loaded version of the same pressing pattern, better suited to progressive overload than bodyweight alone.
- Incline push-up: hands elevated on a bench or step, reducing the load for beginners while keeping the same movement pattern.[1][2]
- Decline push-up: feet elevated instead of hands, increasing the load and shifting slightly more emphasis to the upper chest.[1][2]
- Tricep pushdown and skull crusher: useful accessories when the triceps, specifically, are the limiting factor in your push-up strength.[1][2]
If wrist pain, shoulder pinch, or a lack of floor space rules out the push-up entirely, see the full push-up alternatives guide for a reason-first breakdown of every substitute.
Whichever variation you use, keep your body in a straight line from head to heels: that single cue fixes more push-up form problems than any other adjustment.
References
- Anaerobic and Muscle Endurance Development: Lifting Guidelines. National Strength and Conditioning Association (2017)Back to claim
- American College of Sports Medicine Position Stand. Resistance Training Prescription for Muscle Function, Hypertrophy, and Physical Performance in Healthy Adults: An Overview of Reviews. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (2026)Back to claim
- Updating ACSM's Recommendations for Exercise Preparticipation Health Screening. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (2015)Back to claim
See our exercise methodology for how this evidence is applied and its limits.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do beginners do push-ups?
- Beginners should elevate their hands on a bench or step rather than dropping to their knees, which keeps the core bracing demand closer to a real push-up while reducing the load. Set your hands slightly wider than shoulder width, keep a straight line from head to heels, and progress toward the floor as you get stronger.
- How many pushups a day?
- There is no universal number, but training push-ups two to four times a week in sets of 3 to 5, taken close to but not always to failure, builds strength and endurance effectively over time. Doing very high daily reps with breakdown in form builds less strength than fewer, well-controlled reps done consistently.
- How do I tell if I'm doing push-ups correctly?
- You are doing push-ups correctly if your body stays in a straight line from head to heels without your hips sagging or piking, your elbows bend at roughly 45 degrees from your torso, and your chest gets close to the floor on every rep. Rushing through reps or only doing partial range are signs to slow down and reset.
- What does push-up mean?
- A push-up is a bodyweight exercise where you lower your body toward the floor by bending your elbows, supported by your hands and toes, then press back up to full arm extension. It primarily trains the chest, triceps, and front shoulders, with the core working to keep the body rigid throughout.
- Why can't I do push-up?
- Struggling to do a push-up usually comes down to insufficient chest, triceps, or core strength to control your full bodyweight through the range of motion. Elevating your hands on a bench or step reduces the load while keeping the same movement pattern, letting you build strength toward a full floor push-up over time.
- Are pushups good for seniors?
- Yes, push-ups can be a good exercise for seniors when regressed appropriately, such as performing them against a wall or with hands elevated on a sturdy surface. They build functional upper-body and core strength without requiring any equipment, and the incline can be lowered gradually as strength improves.
- What will 20 push-ups a day do?
- Doing 20 push-ups a day builds baseline chest, triceps, and core strength over time, especially for beginners, though progress will plateau once the volume stops being challenging relative to your strength. Adding variations like decline push-ups or a weighted vest keeps the stimulus progressive once 20 reps feels easy.